Copenhagen (IPA /ˌkoʊpənˈheɪɡən/;[4] Danish: København [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn]), historically known as the capital of the Denmark-Norway union, is the capital and most populated city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,263,698 (as of 1 January 2015) and a metropolitan population of 1,992,114 (as of 1 January 2015). It is situated on the eastern coast of Zealand, 164 km (102 mi) east of Odense and 28 km (17 mi) northwest of Malmö, Sweden. The city stretches across parts of the island of Amager and contains the enclave of Frederiksberg, a municipality in its own right.

Climate
Copenhagen is in the oceanic climate zone (Köppen: Cfb ). Its weather is subject to low-pressure systems from the Atlantic which result in unstable conditions throughout the year. Apart from slightly higher rainfall from July to September, precipitation is moderate. While there can be snow from late December to late April, there can also be rain with average temperatures around the freezing point.
June is the sunniest month of the year with an average of about eight hours of sunshine a day. July is the warmest month with an average daytime high of 22°C. By contrast, the average hours of sunshine are less than two per day in November and only one and a half per day from December to February. In the spring, it gets warmer again with from four to six hours of sunshine per day from March to May. February is the driest month of the year.[68] Exceptional weather conditions can bring as much as 50 cm of snow to Copenhagen in a 24-hour period during the winter months[69] while summer temperatures have been known to rise to heights of 33 °C (91 °F).
Because of Copenhagen's northern latitude, the number of daylight hours varies considerably between summer and winter. On the summer solstice, the sun rises at 04:26 and sets at 21:58, providing 17 hours 32 minutes of daylight. On the winter solstice, it rises at 08:37 and sets at 15:39 with 7 hours and 1 minute of daylight. There is therefore a difference of 10 hours and 31 minutes in the length of days and nights between the summer and winter solstices .

History
Although the earliest historical records of Copenhagen are from the end of the 12th century, recent archaeological finds in connection with work on the city's metropolitan rail system revealed the remains of a large merchant's mansion near today's Kongens Nytorv from c. 1020. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century. The remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen.

These finds indicate that Copenhagen's origins as a city go back at least to the 11th century. Substantial discoveries of flint tools in the area provide evidence of human settlements dating to the Stone Age. Many historians believe the town dates to the late Viking Age, and was possibly founded by Sweyn I Forkbeard. The natural harbour and good herring stocks seem to have attracted fishermen and merchants to the area on a seasonal basis from the 11th century and more permanently in the 13th century. The first habitations were probably centred on Gammel Strand (literally "old shore") in the 11th century or even earlier.

The earliest written mention of the town was in the 12th century when Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum referred to it as Portus Mercatorum, meaning Merchants' Harbour or, in the Danish of the time, Købmannahavn. Traditionally, Copenhagen's founding has been dated to Bishop Absalon's construction of a modest fortress on the little island of Slotsholmen in 1167 where Christiansborg Palace stands today. The construction of the fortress was in response to attacks by Wendish pirates who plagued the coastline during the 12th century. Defensive ramparts and moats were completed and by 1177 St. Clemens Church had been built. Attacks by the Germans continued, and after the original fortress was eventually destroyed by the marauders, islanders replaced it with Copenhagen Castle.

Museums
Copenhagen has a wide array of museums of international standing. The National Museum, Nationalmuseet, is Denmark's largest museum of archaeology and cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures alike. Denmark's National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst) is the national art museum with collections dating from the 12th century to the present. In addition to Danish painters, artists represented in the collections include Rubens, Rembrandt, Picasso, Braque, Léger, Matisse, Emil Nolde, Olafur Eliasson, Elmgreen and Dragset, Superflex and Jens Haaning.

Another important Copenhagen art museum is the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek founded by second generation Carlsberg philanthropist Carl Jacobsen and built around his personal collections. Its main focus is classical Egyptian, Roman and Greek sculptures and antiquities and a collection of Rodin sculptures, the largest outside France. Besides its sculpture collections, the museum also holds a comprehensive collection of paintings of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters such as Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec as well as works by the Danish Golden Age painters.

Louisiana is a museum of modern art situated on the coast just north of Copenhagen. It is located in the middle of a sculpture garden on a cliff overlooking Øresund. Its collection of over 3,000 items includes works by Picasso, Giacometti and Dubuffet. The Danish Design Museum is housed in the 18th-century former Frederiks Hospital and displays Danish design as well as international design and crafts.

Other museums include: the Thorvaldsens Museum, dedicated to the oeuvre of romantic Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen who lived and worked in Rome; the Cisternerne museum dedicated to modern glass art, located in former cisterns that come complete with stalactites formed by the changing water levels; and the Ordrupgaard Museum, located just north of Copenhagen, which features 19th-century French and Danish art and is noted for its works by Paul Gauguin.

Entertainment and performing arts
The new Copenhagen Concert Hall opened in January 2009. Designed by Jean Nouvel, it has four halls with the main auditorium seating 1,800 people. It serves as the home of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and along with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles is the most expensive concert hall ever built. Another important venue for classical music is the Tivoli Concert Hall located in the Tivoli Gardens. Designed by Henning Larsen, the Copenhagen Opera House (Operaen) opened in 2005. It is among the most modern opera houses in the world. The Royal Danish Theatre also stages opera in addition to its drama productions. It is also home to the Royal Danish Ballet. Founded in 1748 along with the theatre, it is one of the oldest ballet troupes in Europe noted for its Bournonville style of ballet.

Copenhagen has a significant jazz scene that has existed for many years. It developed when a number of American jazz musicians such as Ben Webster, Thad Jones, Richard Boone, Ernie Wilkins, Kenny Drew, Ed Thigpen, Bob Rockwell, Dexter Gordon, and others such as rock guitarist Link Wray came to live in Copenhagen during the 1960s. Every year in early July, Copenhagen's streets, squares, parks as well as cafés and concert halls fill up with big and small jazz concerts during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. One of Europe's top jazz festivals, the annual event features around 900 concerts at 100 venues with over 200,000 guests from Denmark and around the world.

The largest venue for popular music in Copenhagen is Vega in the Vesterbro district. It was chosen as "best concert venue in Europe" by international music magazine Live. The venue has three concert halls: the great hall, Store Vega, accommodates audiences of 1,550, the middle hall, Lille Vega, has space for 500 and Ideal Bar Live has a capacity of 250. Every September since 2006, the Festival of Endless Gratitude (FOEG) has taken place in Copenhagen. This festival focuses on indie counterculture, experimental pop music and left field music combined with visual arts exhibitions.

Copenhagen is home to the "K-Town" punk and hardcore music community. This community developed around the underground scene venue Ungdomshuset in the late 90's punk scene, with punk- and hardcore acts such as Snipers, Amdi Petersens Armé, Gorilla Angreb, Young Wasteners, and No Hope For The Kids emerging as significant bands. The term "K-town" got international recognition within the punk-scene with the emergence of "K-Town" festivals. In 2001, the first of these was held in Ungdomshuset, on Jagtvej 69, Nørrebro, Copenhagen. The festival temporarily moved to Freetown Christiania after Ungdomshuset was evicted from its original location until a new Ungdomshuset location was opened on Dortheavej 61.

For free entertainment one can stroll along Strøget, especially between Nytorv and Højbro Plads, which in the late afternoon and evening is a bit like an impromptu three-ring circus with musicians, magicians, jugglers and other street performers.